


I Could Only Ever See You

by TomasNostradamus



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:16:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomasNostradamus/pseuds/TomasNostradamus
Summary: A quick (very quick) write up from the prompt: “Uh, is there a particular reason you’re in my bed?”
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 19
Kudos: 125





	I Could Only Ever See You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dianawithaj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianawithaj/gifts).



> This is Lela's fault. She sent me this prompt this morning and about five minutes later I had this idea hashed out in my head. It is FAR from perfect, and barely any time at all was spent on this, but a couple people read it and enjoyed it so I thought I'd share it here as well.
> 
> This is just a tiny little thing and I'm just gonna go ahead and cover my ass and say this is a one-shot. For real. THERE WILL NOT BE A SECOND CHAPTER 😂 Or a prequel. Or a sequel. This is it.
> 
> Rape is mentioned, no description is given.

It wasn’t that Gilbert hated his neighbor. It’s that he detested him so much that just looking at him made his jaw clench and his fingers curl into his hands to form fists, and Gilbert wasn’t even a violent person. Roy just truly brought out the worst in him, even before he started dating Anne, another person whom Gilbert hated.

He didn’t always hate her, quite the opposite actually. But somehow doing Anne a favor in high school had put an inexplicable barrier between them. He tried to tear it down for two years before giving up and letting his frustration over the situation turn what was left of his love for Anne into hate. The silence between them had been bad enough, but the indifference she showed him is what hurt the most.

Now she was dating his neighbor and together they were obnoxious as hell because it all looked so fake. He looked like a movie star and she had turned into some scantily dressed version of herself that he didn’t understand. They were a stunningly gorgeous couple, but he had learned what kind of guy Roy was over the years. He must keep it from Anne or else the Anne he knew no longer existed. There was no way the girl he knew would put up with this piece of shit otherwise. Not that he cared. She could do whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted, he just thought she would have higher standards.

He saw her leaving Roy’s place this morning. She gave Roy a sweet kiss on the cheek and then happened to walk down the hall and out the building with Gilbert.

“Gilbert.”

“Anne.”

“Nice to see you come out of the biology building long enough to see other people.”

“Nice to see you somehow still can’t differentiate people from human trash.”

“Judgmental as ever. Kudos on the personal growth.”

“Expecting better judgement from you is not me being judgmental.”

“You don’t even know me anymore. You have no idea what I’m doing.”

“I don’t care what you’re doing. You are putting yourself in danger being with him and you either don’t know it or don’t care. Not sure which is more disappointing, thinking you’ve gotten so stupid over the years or that you value yourself so little that you’re willing to risk it.”

“Fuck you, Gilbert.”

“Huh, interesting.”

“What?”

“There was a time where hearing you say that would have killed me. Apparently I’m finally over you.”

That was the first conversation they had had in two years.

Gilbert spent the day in the biology building. Anne wasn’t wrong. He was there all the time. He only left to eat lunch and dinner and eventually stumbled, exhausted, into his apartment at three in the morning. He ate a sandwich, brushed his teeth and went to his bedroom. He didn’t bother turning on the light. He took off his shirt and threw it at the basket by the closet, not caring that he probably missed, and left his jeans where they landed when they fell to the floor. He fell on his bed and looked at his phone to set his alarm for the next day and found a message from his roommate, Charlie.

_Anne is here. Said she needed somewhere safe to stay. Offered her the couch, but she said it smelled like feet and Doritos. Sorry. Probably not the best part of your day._

“What?” he said aloud.

He turned on the light by his bed, looked to the other side and saw red hair everywhere.

He got out of bed, walked to the kitchen, chugged a glass of water and then went back to his room, certain that he was imagining the situation.

He was not. Anne woke up from the movement on the bed and the sudden light in the room and was laying there, staring at the ceiling when he returned.

“Uh, is there a particular reason you’re in my bed?” he asked her.

“I needed somewhere to stay that wasn’t Roy’s.”

“You have an apartment and you hate me. This hardly seems like the best choice.”

“I’m not walking across campus in my underwear, I don’t hate you and this was my best choice, all things considered.”

“Where are your clothes?”

“At Roy’s.”

He went to his dresser, got out some old basketball shorts and a t-shirt, threw them at her, and she got dressed.

“Aren’t you going to get dressed?” she asked him.

“No. This is my room; this is how I sleep and I am beyond tired. Why are you in here? I get that you needed a place to stay, but we have a couch and you are actually on speaking terms with Charlie.”

“Your couch is disgusting and Charlie has a girlfriend. I didn’t want there to be any chance at wrecking anything for him. Even though obviously nothing would happen there. It wasn’t worth risking it.”

“Okay. Good night then,” he said as he crawled back into bed and turned off the light.

“That’s it?” she asked. “You don’t need any more information?”

“What is it going to help to have more information, Anne? You have never cared about my opinion before; you have no reason to listen to me now. We are not friends and you are an adult who is able to do whatever the hell you want even if you are ruining your life.”

“I’m not ruining my life, you asshole! I’m working a story!”

He turned the light back on and looked at her.

“What?”

“Roy raped my friend, Gilbert. How could you possibly think I would actually be with him?”

“Roy raped your friend, Anne. How could you possibly risk being alone with him?”

“She can’t prove it. Everybody knows it happened, but she has no proof. You know I’m not his type; he goes for blonde and beautiful, so it has taken a long time to get this close to him. But I did it. I’ve recorded every conversation we’ve had and he finally admitted that he knew she was unconscious and unable to consent.”

“And it was worth sleeping with him to get this information?”

“I never slept with him.”

“Excuse me for finding that hard to believe. It doesn’t matter, Anne. You did what you thought you had to do. Congrats on the big break.”

“Why aren’t you happy about this?”

“Because Josie was still raped, Anne! And you offering yourself up as a sacrifice doesn’t make it any better! The same fucking thing could have happened to you!”

“I didn’t go into this blind. I trained. I know how to defend myself. I have mace in my purse. I don’t drink anything around him. I’m not stupid.”

“Can we please talk about this some other time?”

“So now we’re talking again? That’s news to me. You haven’t talked to me in two years.”

“ **You** haven’t talked to **me** in two years. I tried to salvage what was left after the shitstorm that was our senior prom but I couldn’t make sense of whatever the hell happened. I still don’t fucking get it. How the hell did me doing what you asked me to do turn into you fighting me in every fucking conversation? I gave up. I couldn’t keep fighting with you. I didn’t even understand why we were fighting about.”

“You broke Ruby’s heart!”

“You told me to ask her to prom!”

“You were supposed to confess your love for her!”

“I was never in love with her! Are you insane?”

“Then why did you ask her?”

“Because you told me to! I thought that if I did this for you, maybe just once you might be able to see that I’m a nice guy. That I’m not the selfish ass you thought I was. I thought that maybe if I did you this one favor, you would see **me**. Not the nervous fourteen-year-old pulling your hair, just trying to get your attention. I wanted you to see that I never meant to tease you and that I was so fucking in love with you that I was willing to do anything to get on your good side for even a second. Yet somehow even doing you a favor just earned me your fucking wrath and an eternity on your shit list. I am so sorry that Ruby got hurt. Really, I am. She is such a wonderful person and I never would have intentionally caused her any pain. I had no idea she had any sort of feelings for me because I could only ever see you.”

A brief silence settled between them until Anne asked, “How long?”

“What?”

“How long were you only able to see me?”

He did the math, but just said, “Always.”

“Why didn’t you just say something?”

“Because you were always so, so mean to me. I thought I was an idiot for falling for you. It made no sense.”

“And now you’re over me?”

He shook his head and said, “It makes no sense. Good night, Anne.”

He reached over, turned his light off again and laid down on his side, facing away from her. He didn’t sleep. He was exhausted, but how could he? He didn’t even realize he was still in love with her and was shocked at the revelation. He couldn’t even imagine how she must be feeling.

“I wasn’t allowed to like you,” she interrupted the silence a few minutes later.

“What?”

“When I arrived at school, I was told in no uncertain terms that Ruby had dibs on you. I know it’s stupid now, but I was desperate for friends and those friends told me I couldn’t speak to you. And I know eventually we were somewhat friendly, but even though I wanted it to be more, I had to push you away. I couldn’t let my stupid, destined to be unreciprocated crush ruin the friendships I had made. And then we came here together. And I couldn’t believe I still had feelings for someone who treated my friend so callously. Apparently I misunderstood the situation.”

“Apparently I did too. How long?”

“What?”

“How long have you had feelings for me?”

“Always.”

“And now?”

“Yes,” she answered definitively. “And now.”

He rolled over onto his back and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

“Ah, fuck,” she said.

“What?”

“I’m in love with Gilbert Blythe.”

He laughed and asked, “Is it really so bad?”

“Yes. Listening to Diana gloat about this is going to be incredibly painful. She called this when we were fourteen.”

“Smart girl.”

“Can you please say it, so I know this is really happening?”

“I love you, Anne.”

There was silence between them again while they lay there, smiling in the dark.

“Are you really not going to kiss me?” she asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“No,” she admitted as she propped herself up on her elbow. “I want to kiss you.”


End file.
